


Judgement

by Bismarckingit, MachUPB



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: ...I've already said this a thousand times, ..haven't I?, Angst, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Did I say love not LOVE? I meant LOVE not love, Don't trust the author, Evil Chara (Undertale), Feels, Good Chara (Undertale), Implied/Referenced Character Death, Just ask the right questions., Love Not LOVE, Memory Loss, Narrator Chara (Undertale), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Post-Undertale Genocide Route, Post-Undertale Neutral Route, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route, Post-Undertale Pacifist Route - "I want to stay with you.", Post-Undertale Soulless Pacifist Route, Semi-Interactive, Some Humor, Unreliable Narrator, Why did you come back?, Why don't you just let them go?, Why?, all the death, have fun deducing that, not a fun ol time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-03-18
Updated: 2019-04-29
Packaged: 2019-06-14 07:12:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 25
Words: 11,279
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15383445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bismarckingit/pseuds/Bismarckingit, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MachUPB/pseuds/MachUPB
Summary: It's so funny, you can't stop laughing. Everything you ever do just falls apart, and its SO FUNNY.Ha ha...But that's not the truth.Because you've been gone for a long time, haven't you?





	1. Chapter 1

It all began when the first monster turned to dust in front of you.  
You couldn't understand.  
Why would they do something like this?  
Pull everyone away from their happy ending, only to tear it away from them, only to come back and destroy everything they've built?  
Why?  
And then it hit you.  
It was like nothing that you had ever experienced.  
Or at least, not in a while.  
It wasn't some sort of pleasure, or a rush of power.  
No.  
It was much simpler.  
For a second, you felt...  
Alive. Like you were before the plan, before everything went wrong.  
But in a second, it was gone.  
You knew it was wrong. (why wouldn't you. This was murder for Christ's sake!)  
But you wanted, no, NEEDED more.  
In that singular moment, you knew that this could finally, finally pull you out of that abyss you were in before they fell, and that still threatened to swallow you back up.  
Yet still you refused it.  
You denied that this was something you wanted. This wasn't a path you wanted to go down.

Too bad it wasn't your choice.

By the time Toriel fell, you hardly even had the energy to apologize.

By the time you got to Papyrus, his words fell on deaf ears.

By the time Undyne melted in front of you, you couldn't tell who was doing this. Was it you this entire time? Was the other some distant dream? You didn't know anymore.

And then he stood before you.  
The Judge.  
He tells you of yours sins.  
He passes judgement.  
And hell comes to earth.  
Yet you wouldn't give up.  
Just a little more and you would finally be free.  
You would finally be ALIVE again.  
You just had to keep attacking.  
Just a little more.  
Despite everything. Despite his strength, skill, and desperation; despite his empty pleas for you to just give up,

He falls.  
You gain LV.  
Yet this time, there was no sensation of living again.  
Nothing at all.  
You forge on ahead,  
Into the throne room.  
Asgore's words are unheard by you as you strike him down and await the EXP.  
And then the abomination that called itself your brother takes it for himself.  
He stole it.  
You were going to spare him.  
You wanted so desperately to.  
But you needed more power.  
Power you could only get from him now.  
So you t e a r h i m a p a r t .

Then there was nothing.  
And then everything becomes clear.  
Everything you were doing wasn't pulling you away from the abyss.  
It was dragging you back in.  
And in front of you stands the one responsible. (a lie a lie its just a scapegoat like you were except now were the one at fault for all of this you ruin everything)  
And you judge them like he judged you.  
And you're alone.  
It's funny really.  
Had they waited for much longer, you wouldve just let them go.  
You wanted so DESPERATELY to get out.  
Maybe even more than they did.  
But instead you gave them your price.  
And they payed it.

And you wake up on a bed of flowers.


	2. Chapter 2

YOU wake up on a bed of flowers.  
Not them.  
Just you.  
Something wasn't right.  
It was supposed to be just like last time...

Right?  
You go through the motions.  
You spare every monster.  
You help everyone in need.  
You do everything you need to do, hoping, praying they come back.  
But they don't.  
You get to the end.  
The end you couldn't face before.  
The end you have to face now.

A S R I E L D R E E M U R R .

The fight...  
...  
...  
Was easier than expected. (determination really is a funny thing, isn't it?)

The parting wasn't the same.  
Everything in you wanted to hold on forever, tell him that your name IS what he says it is, tell him everything, anything but let your brother go.

But in the end, that's exactly what you do.

Toriel asks for you to stay with her.  
You say yes.

Turns out every liar has a tell.  
And there are those that know those tells.  
And there are those that remember.  
This room isn't yours.  
This home isn't yours.  
These friends aren't yours.  
This life isn't yours.  
And now, here you are.  
Standing in front of the Judge once again.  
In a room that doesn't belong to you.  
I...  
I never wanted this.  
I never wanted for any of this to happen.  
But that's just the thing.  
I'm being judged.  
And I already know the verdict.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep. That's it.  
> I have officially become undertale trash.  
> Yay.  
> I might make a "sequel" to this, which would be the various responses that different interpretations of sans would give, but...  
> I really just hope this ones good.  
> Edit: So I've ultimately decided to have a vote, cause I have some good ideas for this story left in here. Should I continue the story , adding new chapters and making this a full fledged story, or should this remain a (two chapters I know) one shot?


	3. Verdict

"...soo... i can assume you're waiting for me to judge you. i mean, that's what you called me right? the judge? and i think that you've already judged yourself enough."

Sans, the judge, takes a step back. Dim moonlight enters my room (not my room never my room) through a window nearby. I cast my eyes away, recognizing what's going to come next, and knowing full well how much I deserve it.

... It's almost exactly like the last time.

The Judge's eyes disappear, nothing but a black void remaining behind them.

"... LV 20. by all means, and by all law in the underground, i should execute you right now."

 

"... but that's not what i'm going to do."

I look up at him. The lights are back.

"here's the thing. LV is more than pain you've inflicted on others. it's also pain you inflict on yourself. and if you're the chara i think you are, you've got plenty of that self-hate knocking around in there."

I stare at him, stunned. Why would he spare me? After all that? He's the Judge. His job is to punish people who deserve it. People like me.

"and i know what you did. or at least, what you told me you did. but in the end, is papyrus a pile of dust? am i bleeding out on a golden-tiled floor? am i a zombie speaking to you from beyond the grave? no. because you fixed it. you undid your mistakes. perhaps there are problems that carry over. but in the end, i feel you've been punished enough for your actions. it's about time you stop carrying the weight of the world on you shoulders and start living your life."

He pauses, closing his eyes and sighing.

"welp. i've said my part. now the balls getting passed to you. now if you excuse me, i've gotta go sleep. its like 11 p.m. now, and i'm not in the mood to spend the rest of this night talking to you, regardless of how much of an excuse it gives me to nap later."

He turns as if to leave, then looks back.

"oh, and if you want some advice? tell everyone else. this whole 'acting like a completely different person' thing isn't working for ya. just saying."

He leaves, and the door shuts behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't entirely like this chapter, but a lot of that is because I'm typing this whole thing up on my phone, and that means no italics or bold lettering, so...
> 
> Dang it.
> 
> I'm also out of ideas, (or at least early story ideas, so if anyone has suggestions, please give them to me. I would really appreciate it.)


	4. Chapter 4

Sleep that night wasn't peaceful, to say the least. I woke up to a dimly lit room, the first rays of sunlight only beginning to poke through the dusty windows.

Only now, the room was empty. No furniture lined the walls of the room. It was completely empty, like it was before we moved in from the underground. (it honestly wasn't surprising how easily we got it, considering the amount of gold the monsters had.)

The room was covered in a thin layer of dirt, as if there hadn't been anyone in the house for a long time. The windows were so saturated with it that I couldn't see through them, even with the light coming through.

Almost like...

Like...

No.

I couldn't think about that.

Not right now.

A single mirror, draped over with an old sheet laid at the far end of the room. It was the only object in the room. (come to think of it, there wasn't even a door, or at least not one with a handle on the inside.)

I cautiously went to pull the sheet off.

And all it was was...

Me.

But not me as I was now.

But ME. 

My body.

My face.

And there it stood, watching, smiling.

And then it spoke.

"Greetings."

"I've been waiting a while for you to come here."

"Let's have a chat, shall we?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's more going on here than there seems...


	5. Greetings =)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Something isn't right here...

"Who are you?"

The image continues to smile, responding calmly, formally.

"Don't you recognize me?"

"I'm you. I'm the one you so desperately pretend not to be."

The apparition smiles more widely, like a shark baring its teeth.

"The one you tried to bury. To forget."

"Don't you remember? Don't you remember slaughtering the people you claim to be your friends, smothering yourself in their ashes as you killed them? Laughing as you cut down even the ones who tried to help you? Who so desperately believed that you could change?"

"Don't you miss that? That power? They're all so weak. It would be so easy to do it again. Especially that one. What was his name? It's not like it matters anyways. He's just as forgettable as the rest of-"

"STOP."

The image stares at me for a moment, evidently surprised that I had spoken.

The surprise didn't last long.

"So you do remember."

"Interesting. Even now you think we're different. You deny that I'm here. Don't worry."

The room began to fall out of focus, everything except for the mirror becoming blurred, indistinct. 

"You'll know better soon enough."

The mirror shatters, as the figure rushes forward, grabbing my body, as it begins to rot in front of me. As I attempt to get away, it only smiles wider.

"We're the same after all."

With that, the rest of the vision melts away, and I wake up in my room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, PLEASE let me know if there is anything I did wrong or could have done better. MAKE ME SUFFER. MAKE ME WISH I WAS DEAD. FIRST, YOU ATTACK MY ART.
> 
> Edit: Welp, my school years started. Don't know what's gonna happen to the story, but...
> 
> Here's hopin!


	6. Sleepless nights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just forget I was gone for two weeks.  
> Sorry bout that.  
> I also apologize if this is of low quality. Please criticize! (:

I didn't sleep well for the next few nights, with images of blood and dust greeting me ever time I closed my eyes.

Toriel was the first to notice how tired I was. It wasn't like there was anything she could do. What was I supposed to say? "hey mom, I'm dreaming of what happened that time I killed everyone! Also, I'm your formerly adopted child who killed them self and is now possessing someone else's body."

Yeah, no.

Undyne noticed reasonably quickly as well, speaking that she's the one that typically tries to goad me into punching waves or anything. (not that I actually DO that....)

 

 

(Ok I admit it. I do it a little)

 

Papyrus might have noticed the entire time. I'm not entirely sure. He can be as much of an enigma as sans when he wants to be. (if he wants to be in the first place. He's the most open shut book I've ever seen in my life)

 

Soon enough, everyone notices. Questions start being asked. Questions I cant answer.

Not unless I tell the truth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay! Another vote!  
> Should I split the first 2-3 chapters off, making the rest its own story, or should I keep it how it is?
> 
> Also, I heavily encourage you asking worldbuilding questions. I'd love to answer them!


	7. The Full Story

_You always found your church to be your safe place. You had friends there. People you could rely on. Not like any of those creatures at the school. Nobody beat you at church. Nobody called you names._  
_Nobody came home from a bar and pretended to be a loving father.  
Too bad none of them really noticed the bruises on your chest or the lines that blanketed your upper arm._

_Perhaps then you wouldn’t be standing here, looking over an abyss._

 

…I began to tell them everything.  
They looked at me. First in confusion, then in disbelief. I knew the looks they were going to have soon.

It’s the look I had whenever I gazed in a mirror.

It didn’t take long for Toriel to start believing. She knows her children like the back of her hand.  
… I never deserved her.

 

Papyrus started believing…Immediately? I honestly think he started believing before I even started talking.

I continued talking, telling of what had happened those first few times we went through. The times when Asgore died, when we died.

And finally, when everyone died.

As I began to speak of… that time, that’s when any kind of conversation stopped. Before there had been at least some form of friendly banter between them and I, but now.

Now there was nothing but silence.  
As I/you kept talking, it.. it became harder to breath. You knew what was coming.

_The screaming, the yelling, the crying. **You’re not my child.**_

 

Undyne watches for some time. After you mention what happened to Papyrus, her eyes widen.

 

 

She says nothing.

 

She remains silent, watching, judging.

 

You KNOW what they're thinking. They're just watching you now. But it won't be long before the screaming starts.

Before they disown you, see you for the menace that you are.

You begin to choke on your words. But you can't stop. You need to tell them.

You...

You can't do this.

The room begins to fade from view.

There's nothing here now.

 

Just you.

 

You can dimly hear the others. Yelling at you. Screaming. Wishing you dead.

 

Your thoughts begin to rain on you from above, almost as if they're coming from someone else. 

_You can’t keep doing this. You can’t keep talking. You KNEW this was going to happen. Why did you tell them? You could have kept it a secret. You didn’t have to say anything. YouknewhowtheyweregoingtoreactyoucouldhavesaidnothingyoucouldhaveDONEnothingyouhorriblepeaceofgarbageyoukilledthemandyoulaughedwhileyoudidityouneverdeservedthis_

 

_**THISISWHYYOUKILLEDYOURSELF.** _

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_Where are the knives?  
_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Someone pulls your arm.

 

Sans' arm is latched onto yours. (Sweat?) beads his skull.

 

My world snapped back into focus.

 

Nobody had left.

 

They were still here.

 

They weren't screaming.

They didn't hate me.

 

_So why did it still hurt so much?_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Outside the window, a small shape flickers out of sight.


	8. It could have been worse, after all

_And yet you don’t. You go home. You don’t take that leap._

_Not yet._

_When you get home, your father sits on the floor of the living room, crying._

_This is the first time you’ve seen him sober in a long while._

_When he sees you, he embraces you._

_He promises things will be better. That **he’ll** be better. And they are._

_For a short while at least._

 

Even with two monarchs in the room, silence still reigns supreme. Nobody says a word. Even Papyrus remains uncharacteristically quiet.

Until eventually the silence is broken by a deep, yet altogether soft, voice.

 

“I understand.”

Asgore takes a deep breath.

“Even if I do not completely understand what you did, I can understand why.”

“When I saw my children… when I saw **you** die, I, foolishly, declared war on a human race that didn’t even know we existed. In my rage, I killed eight people who fell down into the mountain. I nearly killed a ninth. A ninth, that so fate would have it, was once my own child, a child I praised as the “future of humans and monsters.” In my rage, having lost my children, I lost myself as well.”

“You, however, did not just lose your sibling. You lost everything. You died there too. I had people to comfort me. You had a void that pulled at the very fabric of your mind. I had a kingdom that sympathized, and you had nobody. I, in my anger, in my sorrow, killed eight people. You, you lost everything. Your brother. Your parents. Your life.”

“I can’t say I’d be surprised that you’d lose yourself too. The very fact that you… that you came back to us. That you can even sit here and apologize, is beyond any words I could speak. I can’t ever say that what you did was good, but… I just know that it could be worse. I, for one, believe that it is simply best that you came back in the first place. That’s more than I could ever have asked for.”

And so the King spoke. And, despite the Kingdom not necessarily existing anymore, (the politicians were still trying to figure that out) It quickly became obvious that the others in the room agreed. Even Toriel, begrudgingly considering it was Asgore, agreed. Undyne… left the room. I didn’t want to follow her. Better to give her a chance to think alone.

It could have been worse, after all. That was for certain. This probably was the best I could have asked for.


	9. Interlude 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ?

            I woke up in the middle of the night. I could dimly remember… something. Something important. Something I wasn’t supposed to forget. Something I _couldn’t_ forget. But what was it?

 

_A sickness._

_Coughing up blood._

_A doctor._

_Treatment._

_Getting better._

_But something’s changed._

_changed._

_changed._

_changed._

_changed._

_changed._

_No doctor.  
_

_No treatment._

_No getting better._

_Consciousness going in and out._

_Everything's getting dark._

 

 

_darker._

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**_yet darker._ **

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

_Why **are** you still here?  
_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please, ask questions.  
> There's more to this than I can ever show in a single chapter.
> 
> There's always more to the story.
> 
> You just have to look.
> 
> You can't forget to look deeper.
> 
> Don't forget what happened before.
> 
> It may yet change.
> 
> Don't forget the past.
> 
> Don't forget.


	10. LV 1

_The difference was night and day. Beer bottles no longer littered the floor of the living room. The house was cleaner than it had ever been since... Since that day. He got a job. You no no longer had to lock yourself in your room to avoid being beaten. For the first time in years, things were..._   
_Good._   
_It still wasn't perfect. There were still days when he came home with alcohol on his breath._   
_When he screamed and yelled and cried._   
_But those days were getting fewer and fewer._   
_It seemed... It seemed things were finally getting better._   
_So why..._   
_Why did dried blood still coat your arms?_

 

A week after I told everyone, sans pulled me aside as I was taking a walk.

"hey kid, you wanna go grab some Grillby's?"

"Is that what you do to every new kid you meet?" I replied, smiling.

"only if I feel the hots for them, that is."

One of the greatest mysteries of this world is how Sans can wink.

I continued to look at him.

"i've got candy."

I shook my head, a smile plain on my face.  
I followed him to the restaurant, using one of his "shortcuts."

"Sans?"

"yep?"

"You know the definition of a shortcut is to lessen the distance you have to travel, not remove it entirely?"

"yep."

"So why do you call this a 'shortcut'?"

"because it is."

I stare at him for a moment.

"Never mind."

Just another mystery to add to the pile.

There weren't many people in Grillby's at the time, considering it was a work day.

As per usual, that does not apply to sans.

Sans gestures to one of the stools.

I watch the stool.

No whoopee cushion.

I check under and around it.

No whoopee cushion.

I feign sitting on the stool.

No whoopee cushion.

"hey, are you gonna sit down? Or are you going to keep staring at the thing like it's going to bite you?"

I take one last look at the stool.

No whoopee cushion.

I sit down.

Whoopee cushion.

Sans laughs. (why do I even try?)

I take the whoopee cushion and slap him upside the head with it.

He keeps laughing.

I smile back as the food is brought to the bar in front of us.

Everything else seems to blur out of focus.

  
"so, how's life been going for ya?"

There it is.

I glare at him.

"Oh, you know, its fine. It's not like I'm someone who was dead for Lord even knows how long, before stealing a childs SOUL after slaughtering everyone I could have ever cared about in cold blood and ERASING EXISTENCE. Yeah, I'm perfectly fine."

"jesus kid, I just wanted to talk."

"You and I both know that's b.s. Can't we just have one time when we don't worry about all this? Is one day of peace and quiet too much to ask?"

Sans looks at me, grin frozen into a smile. The lights in his eyes look at me, almost as if they see my soul.

Considering the fact that they can...

"what can I say? i don't forget things easily."

"What does that have to do with anything!?"

His eye lights go completely black, leaving nothing but dark pits where they used to be.

It was still just as terrifying as it was in the underground.

"it has everything to do with this. in case you don't remember, considering everything you've done?"

"i have every right to drive a bone through your skull."

"or have you forgotten what i said back in the underground?"

"if it weren't for that promise? if it weren't for the fact that it wouldn't even matter in the first place if i killed you, you'd be dead where you stand."

By this point I was almost visibly shaking.

"You-"

"i what? forgave you? i said i would withhold judgement, not forgo it entirely."

Sans turns as if to leave the room.

"You lied."

He turns back.

"about what?"

"My LV. I checked it this morning. LV 1. You lied."

"no. i didn't."

He leaves before I have a chance to question him.

I had to walk home that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay hiatus! Sorry if this is lower quality than the other chapters. I'll try to fix it later.
> 
> But yeah, its gonna be a while before I post again.


	11. Coming home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *says hiatus*
> 
> *uploads at normal time*
> 
> #aprilfoolsinseptember

By the time I got home, it was almost midnight.

Before I could even get to the door, Toriel was there, phone in hand. My phone was vibrating in my pocket.

Oh.

She ran down the sidewalk and embraced me.

"Never disappear like that again."

Considering it was unintentional, I laughed.

"Sorry, I was sans a ride back home, so I had to walk."

She stared at me blankly for a moment.

_Click_.

She laughed so hard I swore she was going to need medical assistance.

Still chuckling, she replies.

"I guess you couldn't ketchup to him when he left?"

I swore I could hear a very faint " _Nyeh_ " coming from a house a block down.

As we began to head inside, I nearly tripped on a root that was sticking up from a crack in the sidewalk.

...

I went into my room and closed the door, sighing.

Ever since she had learned of what really transpired in the underground, she had become more.... Protective.

She, of course, tried to keep it hidden, but it was obvious nonetheless.

Almost instantly, any knives, cutlery, scissors, or anything else with a sharp edge had disappeared.

Guards already had orders to protect the Ambassador at all costs before.  
That doesn't change the fact that there were twice as many assigned to the job now.

I couldn't blame her. After all, if I died once, she definitely wasn't going to lose me again.

Even so, it got tiring.

All of this, it still felt like I was living someone else's life.

My family and friends knew, but to the rest of the kingdom, to the rest of the world, I was still them.

The savior of monster kind.

The perfect child.

The one who wouldn't hurt a soul.

**The future of humans and monsters**.

It was so funny.

But it wasn't

I sat on my bed, and looking down at my chest,

I took my soul out.

It's a simple magic, really. One of the many things monster kind mastered that humanity had yet to rediscover.

One of the first things I learned.

I feel the soul in my body almost immediately.

I look deeper.

I look for _my_ soul.

There.

I tug on it.

When I pulled my soul out, it felt... Wrong. Like tearing a foreign object out of my body, such as a splinter or a piece of shrapnel, just without the pain associated.

There was hardly anything left of what it once was.

When I was alive, it shone brightly, fueled by a seemingly endless supply of determination.

When I was alive.

I was gone for so long that that glow was gone. All but a small segment of it had long since disappeared, vanishing away as the power holding it together faded.

The glow used to be enough to light a room. To compare it to what was in front of me would be like comparing a glow stick to the sun.

I couldn't look at it for long.

Even having it out for this long made me feel weak. Tired.

Funny that this sad chunk of a soul was the only thing keeping this body alive.

Keeping _them_ alive.

I put it back into my chest.

It was late. I just needed some sleep.

Better to forget my problems right now than to try and fix them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As with all things, there is more to this chapter than you can see.
> 
> Ask the right questions, and you just might get an answer.


	12. ?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You wake to see nothing.
> 
> Everything is dark.
> 
> Something's not right...

_Why did you climb Mt. Ebbot?_

"Why? You know why."

_Was it foolishness?_

"When you first woke, you were so confused."

_Was it fate?_

"But you learned the truth."

_I know why Chara fell._

"Or have you forgotten already?"

_... It wasn't for a very happy reason._

"After all, **they're** the one who taught you."

_When I look at you, I see the same hope that was in their eyes._

"Or."

"Do you really think you can redeem yourself?"

_Wake up, Chara!_

"Nothing more than a joke."

_Please..._

"You just don't remember."

_Do you really hate me that much?_

"Not everything, at least."

_I know who you are._

"Don't worry."

_Guess that's it, huh?_

"Just give it time."

_Chara... Chara really wasn't a very good person._

"You'll remember soon enough."

_Don't you have anything better to do?_

"Say hi to Frisk for me."

=)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First fallen child.
> 
> Last fallen child.
> 
> So similar, and yet, so different.
> 
> So where do the similarities end, and the differences begin?
> 
> Frisk is gone.
> 
> So why do you feel as if they're still here?


	13. Sins of the Father

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was one of your happiest moments.

_One day, your father decided to take you to a small restaurant in the outskirts of town. The place had been around for decades, and rarely ever had more than a couple of people inside. Your father chose a small booth near the window to sit at. The only other people in the restaurant were a couple of men in business attire, discussing... something. You couldn't discern what they were saying, as their voices never rose above a murmur, and their table was situated at the opposite end of the restaurant._

_A waitress walks over and you order some fries and a shake. Your father just waves her off, explaining that he isn't hungry at the moment. You both sit quietly for some time._

_Your father begins by apologizing._

_"I'm sorry. You know that, right?"_

_You remain silent._

_He sighs, looking down at the table._

_"You remind me so much of your mother."_

_"So full of life, of hope. That's why I loved her."_

_"And that's why I thought I hated you."_

_"You were so happy, despite everything. And I hated that. I hated that you could remain so joyful when my whole world was falling apart. I wanted you gone more than anything."_

_"And then you did leave. You left. You disappeared. And it was like losing her all over again."_

_"I wanted you to leave. I wanted you to stay. And I finally had to choose one, even if it meant losing you."_

_"I wish I could say I've gotten better, but I'm not sure if I have. I hurt you, because of the pain I felt._ _And that pain hasn't gone away. I don't know if I'll be fine today, if only to go back to that God-forsaken bar tomorrow."_

_"I just... I just wanted you to know that. To know that I really do love you. Regardless of whatever happens, I will love you. And if anyone, **anyone,** tells you otherwise, don't listen to them."_

_"...Especially if I'm the one saying that. Ok? Just know that I'll be there for you from now on."_

_You respond with a shaky smile. Maybe now he really is getting better._

_The rest of the meal goes by relatively quietly. Your father pays for the meal, and gives a small tip for the waitress._

_As you walk out the door, the other people were still sitting at their table. One of them was speaking on a cellphone held up to his ear. As_ _you walk back down the road, the two men get up and leave out the opposite door._

_Your father noticed them too. You can't help but notice that he's walking a little bit faster._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You only wish you had spent more time with him while you could.


	14. The Morning Arrives

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Even after all this time, you still can't shake the feeling that you don't belong here...
> 
> Because you don't.

I woke up that morning with a vague sense of loss.

Well, that would be implying that I didn't feel that every waking moment of my life.

I got off of my bed, and followed the daily routine I had built up over the months my family had lived here.

As I was pulling the sheets off of my bed, I noticed something near the end where my head sat.

I rub it off with my finger, holding it up to my face.

It was a tar black substance, with a texture not unlike that of... Something.

I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

I shrug it off, rubbing it away on a table near my bed that I used for drawing. It was probably just ink that spilled from a pen.

I still found it funny that despite the fact that I had a table in my room specifically to draw on, I still kept the habit of drawing while on my bed.

Toriel had made waffles for breakfast that day. After praying for the food (I may or may not have rushed that...) I dug into the meal with gusto.

It was a meal fit for royalty, as I said myself.

...

Yep, there were definitely _"Nyeh's"_ coming from a block down.

After cleaning the dishes, I went back upstairs, intent on spending a good amount of time drawing... Something on my drawing pad. I hadn't gotten to that part yet.

My phone was still on its charger when I got up there. There were several notifications on it.

They were texts from Alphys.

The first one was her telling me we had to talk.  
The second one was her freaking out and apologizing for maybe sounding rude accompanied by several crying emogiis.

_*sigh*_

The third one was a picture of an anime cat lady.  
A peace offering? The ways of the weeaboo are still foreign to me.

Either way, I supposed we were going to talk about... That.

I mean its not like that was the only thing people wanted to talk about.

Except it was. Or at least it felt like that.

I set the phone back. I would talk to her later.

But not now.

I walk over to the mirror. It has a sheet draped over it.   
I wasn't very comfortable around mirrors. At least not after the dreams I've been having.

But now I needed to see myself. Remind myself why I'm here.

Why I shouldn't be here.

I slowly pull the sheet off.

Frisks' body was... Different.  
Their amber eyes now had a slight tinge of red to them. Nothing drastic, but it was certainly a match for what I used to have now. Their skin was paler than before. They didn't look like the corpse I was in my later days, but there was a definite difference.

But there was something else.

_What is-_

...

There's nothing.

I put the sheet back up.

I guess there's two people I need a talk with.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not ink.


	15. your head hurts...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your head hurts...

_You wake to find yourself in some sort of pit. How did you get there?_

_Your head hurts..._

_You call out for help._

_You're alone..._

_You nearly scream when you try to move your right arm._

_Everything is foggy..._

_You try to breath, coughing when you do._

_There something in your throat._

_Your head hurts..._

_You call out for help._

_Every inch of your body feels like it's on fire._

_Everything is foggy..._

_You scream when you try to move your right arm._

_There's something wrong with your head..._

_Is there anyone there?_

_Can anyone hear you?_

_You don't think your arm is supposed to look like that.._

_Your head hurts..._

_You try to move your right arm, and nearly scream._

_There's a pool of blood beneath you..._

_You try to push yourself up._

_Pain shoots through your entire body._

_Your head hurts..._

_Where are you?_

_Why are you bleeding?_

_Why does you arm look like that?_

_Everything is foggy_

_Why cant you breath_

_What's happening_

_Please someone help_

_Please_

_God_

_I don't wanna die_

_"Hello? Is there anyone here?"_

_Your head hurts..._

_You call out for help..._

_"Oh! A human!"_

_"Are you hurt?"_

_"What's your name?"_

_Your name..._

_Your name is.._

_Is..._

_"Chara."_

_Barely even a whisper._

_Your voice is sore.._

_Why is it sore?_

_"Chara, huh? My name is Asriel."_

_"Do you need help? Here, ill take you too my dad! He'll fix you right up!"_

_You try to reach out with your_ _right arm, screaming as it flares in white hot pain._

_The small child flinches back._

_Everything is foggy..._

_A small figure reaches_ _down, helping you up by your left arm._

_Why? Your right arm is dominant..._

_You steadily limp forward, leaving a small pool of blood behind on a glistening rock._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Your head hurts...


	16. Alphys

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long.  
> Wanted to do this right.

When I made it to Alphys' lab, I realized how similar it was to the lab in the underground. And by similar, I meant it looked the exact same, minus the...unprofessional objects that had been there before. I knew that humans were still trying to replicate some monster technologies that they didn't have, and vice versa, but were they really this unoriginal?

The floors were cleaner than they had ever been in the underground. Where once there were stains and splotches of ramen sauce, the floor was so clean that there was a near perfect reflection of myself standing in the image.

Her desk was as messy as it had always been, with one key difference. In Hotland, her desk had been covered in letters from families praising her for any number of fixes to their everyday problems. Now there were none. The desk was instead covered in statistics, data, and other scientific material. The screen on the wall was off, and the computer had been hastily put into sleep mode, judging by the flashing power indicator.

She was most likely in what used to be the True Lab, so I began to go down the elevator that led to the facility.

The doors almost jammed when I got to the floor the Lab was on, threatening to stop opening halfway, before finally sliding open with a screech of metal scraping against metal.

_At least it didn't fall to the bottom like last time..._

Despite being the location of a large portion of the equipment in the lab, this floor remained almost completely deserted, judging by the thin layer of dust that covered much of the facility. Strangely enough, despite being almost brand new, there were cracks running along parts of the floor, with some small patches of dirt visible underneath them.

There was some light coming from a nearby room, multicolored light shifting and flickering underneath the door.

I mentally steeled myself, preparing to be greeted with resounding cheers of "Kawaii" and "Ultimate power!"

I swear, you see one anime, you've seen them all.

I edged forward, gripping the door handle.

I pushed the door open, being greeted with a childlike voice laughing.

"Hehehe!"

An indistinct mumbling sounded, barely able to be picked up by the camera.

"Huh?"

"Oh yeah, I remember."

"When we tried to make butterscotch pie for Dad, right?"

My voice.

I shut the tv off before looking around the room. I couldn't handle seeing that anymore.

Seeing myself anymore.

Despite the tv being turned on, there was no sign of life in the room. Small tapes scattered the floor, undoubtedly containing more bad memories. A small couch had been set up in the middle of the room, with a small table in front of it.

I turned to leave the room, before being greeted by Alphys holding a bowl of ramen in front of her.

"Oh! Y-you're here! I wasn't actually expecting you to come..."

"I just want you to know I don't hate you for what you did. It was wrong but, I mean, its not like I can j-judge, right?"

"That's not w-what I wanted to talk about anyways..."

"Y-You're Chara, right?"

I stared at her for a moment.

"...yeah?"

"The Chara? T-The one that Asgore adopted?"

The look on my face was a decent enough answer.

"I-I know you told everyone and all, but I-I don't think you ever really elaborated on how."

"I mean, how does someone who's been dead for so long just come back?"

I thought about it for a moment.  
How had I come back to life?  
Not when I took their body, but when I first woke up.  
What pulled me from that abyss I had been trapped in for so long?  
And why couldn't I remember when I woke up?

I could recall the facts of what happened, but I couldn't recall the actual events.

And it wasn't just before it happened.

I knew what I did, and I could just barely recall some of it, but the majority of it was a mystery.

That...

That terrified me.

My face must have given it away, because Alphys quickly dropped the subject after that.

For the rest of the time I was there we simply talked about other things.

She tried to get me to watch anime.

I laughed.

I fell asleep several minutes into the first episode.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Those cracks are no accident.
> 
> *  
> Another vote! Woo!  
> So I'm thinking of putting extra content in the summaries that relates to the story, and I just wanted to know what you think. I already have plans for having special chapters dedicated to worldbuilding, so the summaries could be a food place to put the stuff that's too small for those chapters.  
> Or, you know, a good place for some mysteries. ;)  
> *


	17. Did somebody say POLITICS?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the confusion with the past couple of chapters. I had archived a chapter when I thought I had posted it. Sorry.

Alphys shook me awake, pointing to the screen, which was no longer displaying anime superheroes, but rather a news channel.

"Y-you might want to see this."

I looked at the newscaster displayed over the backdrop of a city.

"I'm standing in front of the Mezquita in the city of Cordoba. Recently a rather large mob has been gathering, with the intent of tearing the structure down, claiming it 'a palace of heretics.' There seems to have been little to no provocation for this, as well as other, similar occurrences across the Spanish state. Juan Carlos, the current ruler of the Kingdom of Spain, denounces this movement as being 'immoral and unjust towards fellow citizens of Spain.' Even so, this reporter must ask: What set all of this off? Perhaps it is a reaction to religious differences between Spain and its neighbors to the south. Or, perhaps, it is a reaction to a completely different set of events altogether, such as the recent reemergence of the Kingdom of Monsters after supposed centuries of captivity."

"Perhaps we will never know what set this off. Back to you, Tom."

Alphys looks at me.   
"Sorry, its the next one."

"Thanks Barb. As you can see,  I am standing inside the League of Nations building located south of Berlin. Behind me, the great powers of the world are discussing the matter of the resurgent monster kingdom, and what status it shall have as a political entity. There are representatives from the German, Japanese, British, and Ottoman Empires, the Danubian Federation, (recognized by most as the Austrian empire,) the Republic of France, and the kingdom of Spain. The Soviet Union has also, in a surprising turn of events, shown up, despite its previous boycotting of the League as a 'tool of the bourgeois to weaken the cause of the revolution,' or some other 'intelligent' reason. With this current development, I don't expect to see any kind of agreement soon."

\-----------------------------------------------------  
*The League of Nations Building*

"Absolutely not."

Papyrus and Asgore had spent the past 4 hours trying to convince the nations of the world to recognize the Kingdom of Monsters as a "political entity," whatever that was. Papyrus was just glad sans knew his "shortcuts," so they wouldn't have to fly a plane home.

And for the fifth time that day, the German ambassador had said no, dragging half the table with them, even if the rest of the world hadn't already decided against the monsters.

"You have no records, no previous dealings with us, no evidence whatsoever that your so-called nation has ever existed in the first place."

Clutching at a bandage on his hand, he continues.

"So why on earth should we ever even consider giving you diplomatic recognition, if you don't have any worth, any land, or even any proof of your country's existence? If it weren't for the fact you stood here right now, I wouldn't even consider the possibility of your species existing."

The ambassador for the British Empire stands up.

"Perhaps, Hans, you just don't want anyone to jeopardize your nations control over this organization?"

The German ambassador, Hans, slams his fist against the table.

"What in heavens name are you blabbering on about?! We never created this League! It was part of terms you forced upon us!"

The British ambassador chuckles.

"Just like you forced us to relinquish our protectorate over Egypt to the Turks, or how both you and France were forced to release an independent Alsace-Lothringen. Or how we were forced to allow the absorption of Belgium by the Dutch. Or how you and Austria were forced to recognize Poland. So sure, keep complaining about having to join an organization of world peace. It's not like you haven't been doing it for a century now."

The German ambassador sits down, leaving a bloody mark on the table from his now bleeding hand.

Papyrus notices the blood, frowning slightly. He begins to move forward, but Asgore quickly stops him, shaking his head.

That, of course, doesn't keep Papyrus from doing what he does next.

"WELL, PERHAPS YOU WOULD LIKE TO EAT SOME FOOD AFTER ALL OF THAT DISCUSSION!"

The Austrian ambassador begins to speak.

"Food isn't all-"

He looks down to the plate of spaghetti now sitting before him.

Many of the other ambassadors react in a very similar manner, obviously questioning how Papyrus was able to move so quickly. They probably wont figure it out.

A chef never reveals his secrets, after all.

The German ambassador is the first to properly react.

"How many times do we have to remind you of the rules here? There is no food allowed in this-"

The Japanese ambassador, whom had been silent during this entire discussion, speaks for the first time.

"And may we remind you that this is a culture left undiscovered for potential centuries, if not millenia? Be mindful of their courtesy. If you don't accept their culture, they will never accept yours."

The German ambassador looks over to Papyrus, who is still smiling with pure glee.

"(sigh) Fine. We will make an exception for them once."

At this, many of the representatives, with the notable exceptions of Russia and China, accepted the food.

"NYEH-HE-HEH! NOW THAT YOU HAVE ENJOYED MY WONDERFUL SPAGHETTI, MASTERFULLY CRAFTED BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WHAT WAS THIS ABOUT REPRESENTATION?"

Papyrus continues to smile broadly, as his cape flutters, despite the total lack of wind in the room.

Hans, having just finished the small plate of relatively mediocre food, and having pushed the plate aside, begins to continue speaking.

"As there has been no forthcoming support or evidence to allow for the autonomy of monster kind, I motion to-"

Papyrus, as well as the rest of the League, watch as Hans looks down, seemingly at his hand, which is no longer dripping blood.

Hans slowly unwraps the bandage.

There's no cut, no bleeding.

The silence in the room is tangible.

Until it is broken with a single sentence, given by the Dutch ambassador.

"We will willingly give the island of Java for monster settlement."

Only moments after this, the entire room explodes into a cacophony of noise, offers being made by nation after nation, ambassador after ambassador.

"Tax exemp-" "Cyprus and Mal-" "Wisconsin" "Cuba" "New Zeala-" "Oklaho-"

"Enough!"  
The German ambassadors voice cuts through the air like a knife slicing through bone. (Papyrus remarks in his head what a strange comparison that is)

Hans sits down at the table.

"We will take a days recess to gather our thoughts, so that we may present them in a coherent manner."

"Until tomorrow, no more discussion may be considered for the settlement of monsterkind. Is that understood?"

The room drops silent once more.

Hans smiles, with the grin never truly meeting his eyes.

"Good."

With that, the meeting was, although in a very unofficial manner, adjourned.

Papyrus could only stand and wonder what happened to change their minds so fast.

\-----------------------------------------------------

And I was left with Alphys in the dark, knowing both too little and too much about what was coming.

I shut the tv off.

"I think it's about time I head home. What time is it?"

Alphys looks at me funny.

"I-It's only 3:00."

I internally curse.

"Sorry, there's just someone else I need to see."

"Who?"

"There's someone still in the underground."

I take a deep breath.

"It's about time I talk to him."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You have no idea how long I've waited to do this.


	18. Did somebody say... EXPOSITION?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the really long wait.
> 
> If you have any questions or suggestions, leave them below!

The trek to Mt. Ebbot was relatively short. Monsterkind, having lived in the mountain for so long, and only recently having left, were still living near the figure that dominated the skyline.

The difference between the town, soon to become city, and the mountain was abrupt.

The road leading to the mountain was well developed, having been the center of the town for over a century. The road was paved, vehicles and people were always on it, and even potholes were relatively rare, due to the efforts of the town.

The only strange part of the road was how abruptly it ended. The road itself trekked through the town, connecting it to a nearby city. But if you were to keep following the road, it would disappear. The pavement, the concrete sidewalk, the signs, everything would simply stop at the base of Mt. Ebbot.

Of course, that wasn't entirely true. If you were to look closer, or perhaps even dig through the leaves that perpetually covered the ground there, you would find a small dirt path, leading up the slanted mass of earth, situated so near to a park where parents often took their children.

As I stood at the beginning of that path, I wondered about what I was planning to do. Was it really worth it? Maybe it wasn't too late to turn back, to just let things be. To let him think what he would about me.

Or maybe.

Maybe I could do things over?

The wind picks up, spreading the red and gold leaves back over the patch of earth I uncovered.

I could feel it. Like a small itch in the back of my head.

I could still do it, right?

Go back.

It wouldn't even take so much as a thought.

If I wanted to, I could.

I could be better for them. They wouldn't have to  know. I could still be their perfect child.

It's not like anyone would remember, right?

I look around. Time is moving at a snails pace. Leaves hang suspended in the air.

It wouldn't take so much as a thought.

Wind is rushing past my face. I can feel a sense of weightlessness. I can almost make out the outline of a hole above me.

I could do this right. I could save them. All of them.

I could finish what I start-

No.

The wind continues to blow around me, creating a sound like raspy laughter in the trees nearby.

No.

I take a shaky breath.

No.

I can't do this again. Things are hard enough as it is.

It's an addiction.

I close my eyes. I breath.

In. Out. In. Out.

It's fine. I'm fine.

I can't put them through that again. I won't put them through that pain.

In. Out. In. Out.

I open my eyes.

I look around. Everything's normal now. People are walking their dogs. Talking on their cell phones.

I sit down on a nearby bench.

Things are silent. The sound from the wind, the people, the animals. It all falls quiet.

It's just me here.

A man, perhaps in his late forties or early fifties, judging by his graying hair, sits next to me.

He turns his head to face me, a look of concern on his face.

"Excuse me, are you okay? I noticed you were shaking a bit there. Is something wrong?"

I continue to face the park in front of me, refraining from turning my head to answer.  
"I'm fine. It's just a little cold is all."

The man chuckles, a sound I could swear I'd heard before.  
"It's okay. You don't have to tell me."

I turn my head to face him.

He chuckles again, a sound I was sure I had heard before now.

"I've heard many people tell me that. Who say they're fine, when they really aren't."

He sighs, slumping forward as if he had been carrying a large weight for many years.

"I'm a pastor at the local church. Have been for quite some time now. In fact, I was a pastor even before coming to the one next to Mt. Ebbot."

He turns to face me again, pointing into the town.

"The original church was down there, right in the middle of the town."

He lowers his hand.

"You remind me of a kid I knew from there. The kid had a bad situation at home, you see. But they wouldn't tell anyone about it. They'd put on a smile and keep on acting like nothing was wrong. But there was."

He closes his eyes.

"We all noticed. We knew why they would pull away at random times, or why they would sit alone when everyone else was together, or why they would stay in the church right up until we locked the front doors."

"I only wish we could have done something. We could have said something. Anything. But we just watched."

The man sits up straight again.

"One day, the kid didn't show up. Nobody said anything, but we all had an idea of what might have happened. So we prayed. For the first time, we truly prayed over the child's well being."

He smiles.

"And you know what happens? The kid comes back, and their father comes with them. I hate to be saying this, but that's probably the only time I've truly enjoyed watching a grown adult cry, repenting in front of an altar or otherwise."

"For a few weeks, everything was fine. The kid was getting better, the father was repenting of his apparent abuse. Things were great."

The man, someone I'm sure I know now, lets his shoulders fall.

"And then the fire came. We were having a prayer session, when someone from a neighboring building yelled that there was a fire. We all scrambled out of that building. There was smoke everywhere. And I mean everywhere. Not enough to be dangerous yet, but it certainly kept us from seeing so much as a foot in front of us."

"We all got out, but. The kid didn't. We searched through the wreckage time and again."

The pastor clasps his hands together, knuckles turning white.

"That fire. That fire was hot. Almost unnaturally so. There were dead in that fire, but there were no bodies. They were gone. There weren't these burnt husks of buildings like you would normally see. There was nothing. There was some rubble, yes, but there was not a single standing building."

He unclasps his hands, reaching into his jacket.  
He pulls out a small disk of metal, melted and charred beyond recognition.

"This came from the church. There weren't any objects like this in the church. But then we realized. That was because those objects all melted. They didn't just bend or char, they melted. This is what's left of them."

He slips the disc back into his jacket.

"Needless to say, they were never found."

He looks back up towards me.

"Oh, sorry. I never meant to go on about that for so long. I uh... I guess the point is that you shouldn't hide when you're having a hard time from the people around you. Sometimes all it takes is admitting what's wrong."

I laughed a little on the inside, given everything that's gone down over the past couple of weeks.

"But hey, you're the one who freed the monsters right? So maybe there's nothing wrong after all."

Aaaand the laughter's gone.

"Well I've held you up for long enough. I'll be going."

He stands up, and begins to walk away.

"Wait."

He turns around.

"What?"

I had to be sure.

"Do you remember the kids name?"

The man smiles somberly.

"Yes."

"What was their name?"

He looks me in the eyes.

"I can't say. Something tells me you already know that name. And I know it sounds a little cliché, but I think what God is telling me is that there are people who really care about you. Don't push them away."

He once again turns to leave.

"See you later, Chara."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> EB FP TXQZEFKD.


	19. Up the Mountain

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay, new chapter!
> 
> I might not update over Christmas break.
> 
> Or I might update.
> 
> Who knows?

It takes about half an hour to walk up the mountain. The path up the mountain was long and winding, often disappearing beneath layers of dirt and leaves. The entire forest was in full autumn, red and gold intermingling with the green of the forest floor. It could be argued that Ebbot is one of the most beautiful places that one could ever see.

Ironic that this was the last place many people ever wanted to go, whether figuratively or literally.

I stand at the entrance to a cave. The very same cave I fell down once before.

The cave _they_ fell down in.

To say that nature was beginning to reclaim the entrance would be false, considering that's what it had been doing for the past several decades. When i first fell down here, vines amd greenery covered nearly every inch of the cave floor, nearly obscuring the hole that led deeper inside. Now though, there's actually less greenery here than there was before. Several spotlights lay dormant on the cliff's edge, and a rope ladder sits nearby.

... Guess that's the problem of getting back up solved.

There are some workbenches as well, with computers laying open on top of them, with their screens turned off.

I walk around the hole, to the end of the room with the computers. There's a small white box on the wall at the end.

It's a security camera.

The item is dusty, most likely from lack of use.

But then again, if that's the case, why is there still a blinking red light?

On the side is some sort of emblem.

It's a circle with three arrows pointing inside of it.

I walk away from the camera, deciding not to dwell on that for too long.

I'm here for a reason.

I sit next to the edge, staring into the abyss below, trying to formulate at least some idea of what I'm planning to do.

Almost ironically, I don't get to do that, considering the vine that wrapped itself onto my ankle while I was thinking. Before I have time to properly react, it pulls, yanking me into the abyss below.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Who puts a high grade security camera next to a cave?


	20. Into the rabbit hole...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome back!

_You never knew how long it took for Asriel to take you through the ruins._

_You could hardly see._

_The scenery went by in a blur. Everything seemed to turn in front of you, twisting into a kaleidoscope of nausea-inducing color._

_You continued to stumble forward, holding on to Asriel with your left arm._

_..._

_Why were you doing that again?_

_Your right arm was dominant, wasn't it?_

_It didn't matter anyways._

_You were too tired to change arms either way._

_You didn't see any point in dwelling on..._

_Dwelling on..._

_On..._

_You could just rest your eyes for a little... Couldn't you?_

_A flash of green jolted you awake._

_Someone was talking to you._

_No._

_Not was._

Is.

"Wake up!"

Someone twists my arm, sending knives of pain through my joints.

My eyes snap open, and it takes a moment for me to register what's I'm looking at.

Golden flowers.

No.

No no no _no._

I didn't do it this time. I didn't.

So why am I down here?

I begin to scramble away from the oh-so familiar sight.

But why aren't I moving?

_Why can't I move?_

"Calm down already!"

Another twist in my arm, nearly dislocating it.

Everything comes into focus.

I'm suspended in the air above the flowers by vines, wrapping around every part of my body.

My breathing begins to slow down. I hadn't even known that I was hyperventilating until then.

A small flower pops into view in front of me, smiling.

It still looks unnatural, even after all this time.

"Golly, you didn't react to that well at all."

This is not what I had planned.

I mean, while it's wonderful that you're down here with little ol' me, I've still got to wonder..."

"Why did you come back?"

Several seconds pass, the only sound coming from my lungs, still struggling to right themselves after that fall.

Flowey cocks his head to the side.

"Well? I'm listening."

I take in a deep breath, and begin to speak.

"I wanted to talk with you."

His face goes completely blank for a moment, any expressions he could have had before leaving his face entirely, before he seems to notice and forces a smile back on.

"Hee hee hee. I already knew that. I just wanted to see if you knew."

Read: He just wanted to mess with me.

I know not to give him fuel, I really do.

"That was until you chucked me down a mountain."

Flowey's grin widens, and he laughs, a shrill sound that echoes through the empty cavern.

"Ha ha ha. No harm, no foul, right? It was funny, watching you flail about with your arms. Besides, you had a safety net! See, good ol' Flowey's got you covered!"

He winks, a small star flying out from his eye to the side.

"Well, that's how someone reacts to being _thrown_ down a _mountain_."

This time, Flowey only smiles softly, a smile that for once seems almost genuine.

"Not the monsters, no. Undyne would just punch the ground to "cushion" her fall, as if that would help _at all_ , Papyrus would do mental gymnastics, and sans..."

Flowey scowls for a moment, as if recalling an unpleasant memory.

"Anyways, you never played like that. You're different! You're unique! I never could predict you! You're my best friend..."

" _so Frisk_."

All at once, the vines wrapped around me tighten, digging into my skin like a noose around someone's neck.

Flowey looks upward, his invariably dead eyes staring into mine.

" _Let's talk. Like **friends**_."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wonder what those dead eyes see...


	21. Time Time Time, I'm All Out of Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry I took so long...

The flower watches me, the smile on its face naught but a mockery of the real thing.

"So, Frisk, how have you been doing? Play any good games lately?"

Games?

"What are you talking about?"

A white pellet appears in front of me, slowly spinning in the air.

"You know what I'm talking about. Because that's what you've been doing, now isn't it?"

The pellet rises up, going over my head.

Before dropping into my back.

Everything goes white for a moment, before an explosion of white hot pain erupts from my spine as the pellet digs into it. After what seems like an eternity of this, the pellet disappears.

_"playing games."_

I open my eyes, only to be met by what can only be a look of pure malice on the part of the flower.

_"Telling them lies."_

Another pellet slams itself into my right leg, causing more pain, before dissipating like the last.

_"Fooling them. Treating them as nothing more than toys."_

My leg begins to bleed, blood falling out of the wound at an alarming rate.

_"And for what?"_

The flower's face distorts into a sickening grin, monstrous teeth emerging from the center, eyes nothing more than sinkholes into an abyss.

"Hee hee hee. _I know why_."

He glances to the side at my leg, still bleeding. A vine tightens itself around the wound, accelerating the bleeding, whilst eliciting a scream from my mouth.

"You just want to see what happens, _don't you?"_

The blood begins pooling beneath me, slowly but steadily trickling out of my increasing number of wounds.

"Isn't that right, **Chara?** "

That last word is spit out, like a distasteful thing out of a mans mouth.

"So tell me."

...heh.

"How many times?"

...like me.

"How many times have I told you this?"

The blood continues to collect beneath me, grouping itself beneath my steadily numbing body.

"How many times have we played this game?"

Some of the vines begin to loosen.

I can hardly gather the strength to look at him anymore.

"How many times did it take before you took their name?"

Another pellet.

"How long was it before you got bored of them? Before you decided to play again?"

Another.

"How many times have we been down here?"

His vines are barely gripping me.

Not that it matters.

It won't be long now.

"Don't feel like telling me?"

His voice becomes steely, its edge sharper than a knife.

"Fine then. Don't answer. Guess you wont mind reloading your-"

"Your..."

He laughs, a shrill sound that echoes through the cavern, creating a reverb effect throughout the room.

"You _really_ aren't feeling it, are you?"

He leans over, his head inches away from mine.

"So, since you're so fond of playing games, lets play a different one. But first..."

A green glow spreads throughout the vines, closing the wounds that had been open for oh-so long, stopping the bleeding. As they continued, I could feel life spreading back into my veins.

"Can't have a contestant bleeding out on us, can we?"

"The name of the game is: "Tell Flowey the Truth Before He Rips Your Arm Off."

Just as bad at names as Asgore.

"Here's the first question. It should be very simple. What's your name?"

I look at him. He's glaring at me.

"Chara."

I continue.

"You know it's me. Please. I just want to-"

There's an explosion of pain inside my chest. I look down, just to see a vine impaled inside of my ribcage.

As everything fades to black, I hear one last sentence from Flowey.

**"Wrong answer."**

And everything ends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And then the world stuttered.


	22. Bohemian Rhapsody

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chara! Don't give up!
> 
> Stay determined!
> 
>  
> 
> _why?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> How long have you been here?
> 
> ... You can't tell.

The world comes back with a jolt, with a sensation of being forced into place, like a defective part in an assembly line, being hammered until I fit.

I'm still strung up in his vines, like a marionette on strings.

"Boy, that must've felt terrible." His tone still mocking me.

"You reckon that's what they feel as you reset?"

I'm still here.

"As you tear it all away from them?"

Flowey grimaces.

"So I'm going to ask you again."

He...he Loaded?

"What is your name?"

I look up at him.

"Chara."

He grimaces.

"So be it."

Before I can even register being impaled again, the world turns back for the second time.

I'm still strung up in his vines, like a marionette on strings.

Still a part of the assembly line.

Still here.

"What is your name?"

"Chara."

_The third time._

"What is your name?"

"Chara."

_The fourth._

"What is your name?"

_The fifth._

"Chara."

 _The sixth_.

I'm still a part of the assembly line.

_The seventh._

I'm still just a puppet on strings.

_The eighth._

I'm still alive.

_The ninth._

I'm still here.

_The tenth._

**I'm still here.**

_The eleventh._

It's just me.

_The twelfth._

Despite everything.

_The thirteenth._

Everything I've tried.

 _The fourteenth_.

I'm still here.

_The eighteenth._

It's still just me.

 _The thirty-first_.

**It's still just me.**

_The fifty-second._

"What. Is. Your. **Name?** "

_The seventy-fifth._

I... I wish it was different.

_The eighty-ninth._

I wish they were the one who would answer this.

 _The ninety-first_.

I wish they were here.

_The hundredth._

...why? Why couldn't it have been me?

_The... The... You've lost count._

**Lord knows it's what I wanted.**

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A stumble-jolt, a stutter.
> 
> It's Flowey's bread and butter.


	23. Another time, another place

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That room wasn't yours.
> 
> Neither is the life you stole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the long wait.  
> Oof.

_You wake in an unfamiliar bed, scrambling to get up. As you lift your head, you wince at the stabbing pain in your skull. Instinctively, you reached out to feel at it._

_...there was no wound._

_...you could've sworn you were bleeding there before._

_As you sit up, the pain quickly fades to nothing but a dull ache._

_You begin looking around, trying to assess your location._

_You're in what appears to be a child's bedroom, complete with little drawings on the walls, and a toy bin near the wall to your right._

_Is this where Asriel..._

_No. That had to have been some sort of hallucination, right? Saying you hit your head pretty hard would be a massive understatement, so hallucinations wouldn't be out of the equation. There's no way that..._

_Ok._

_OK._

_That hypothesis has immediately been thrown out the window._

_Asriel is standing in the doorway._

_OKAY._

_So you aren't hallucinating._

_That's good. That's nice. That's fine._

_You're not hyperventilating._

_You're not._

_Asriel runs into the room, nearly tackling you back onto the bed with a hug._

_"I thought... I thought that you..."_

_He chokes back a sob._

_He clutches at you tighter. His next words come in a quite voice, hardly even a whisper._

_"I thought you were gonna die."_

_You decide to refrain from mentioning the fact that you hardly know each other, instead opting to wrap one of your arms around him in return._

_But there's still a question nagging at your mind._

_"But, who fixed me?"_

_He pulls back, looking at you for a moment before responding._

_"Oh, it was ¥€ &%> saved you. The least you could do is show some respect._

_The large...woman, as far as you can tell, immediately spots you, and proceeds to put down her book._

_"Oh, you're awake! I see you have met my son Asriel. He was so excited to see you when we said you had gotten better."_

_The lady stands up, and it quickly becomes apparent that she is wearing what appears to be a large robe of some kind._

_"Would you like something to eat or to drink?"_

_The question is rather simple, yet still catches you by surprise._

_After all, they had already taken you into your home. The least you could do is leave as soon as possible. You shouldn't burden them any more than you have to._

_You politely decline with a quick "No thank you."_

_For a second, the lady gives you a look, as if she were a mother over-assessing the words of a child._

_She slowly nods her head._

_"Very well then. There is some food in the refrigerator if you want any."_

_You should leave._

_"I'm sorry to continue bothering you, but where is the way out? I should really get back to..."_

_To where? To who?_

_You don't remember._

_Toriel drops the book she was holding, and turns to you. Her smile seems strained now._

_"That's the question I was afraid you'd ask."_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's something missing...


	24. Stay determined.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if this is below the quality mark...

Flowey, for lack of a better term, was pissed. 

Well, perhaps not _pissed._  He doubted he had enough  there to truly describe himself as pissed.

But if he did have a soul?

He would be _livid._

Not at Frisk, though.

He didn't have it in him to hate them.

Even if they were so obviously going down the same route as him.

He couldn't judge them.

After all, he had done the same thing.

Countless times, in fact.

He wasn't mad at Frisk, no matter what he said.

That's not to say he wasn't mad though.

He was.

He was mad at everything _but_ Frisk.

Their friends, their so-called family.

Somehow, he knew that wouldn't be enough.

It wasn't enough for him, after all.

He just needed to get them to stop.

No matter how many times it took.

No matter times he broke them.

No matter...

No matter how many times he had to kill them.

He just needed to make them _understand._

The game was over.

They needed to put it away.

_Why couldn't they understand that?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...
> 
> Why can't they?


	25. Oops

So...this is going to be a bit awkward...

 

Dont worry guys, this isnt a hiatus.

Im not even _close_ to being done with this story.

But it is certainly going to feel like a hiatus.

I need a bit to get my stuff together, and to figure out how to continue the story from where I'm at, and I am very slow about doing that stuff.

So yeah, its gonna be a while.

Sorry.


End file.
